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THE MOVIE: Ghosts of Girlfriends Past

THE STARS:
Jennifer Garner • Matthew McConaughey • Michael Douglas
DIRECTOR: Mark Waters

Jennifer Garner

After years on TV’s Alias, and movies like Daredevil and The Kingdom, where she fought her way out of many dire situations, Jennifer Garner is turning her attention to her softer side with the romantic comedy The Ghosts of Girlfriends Past playing Matthew McConaughey’s childhood friend, Jenny, who was the one woman in his life who always seemed immune to his charm. When they meet again during the wedding rehearsal for Connor’s brother Paul, Jenny is dismayed by his attempts to derail the ceremony.

U.S. RELEASE: May 1 2009, Nationwide • Rated: PG-13

THE COMMENTS:

What is Jenny’s relationship to Matthew McConaughey’s character, Connor, in this movie?:
Having experienced the Connor Mead treatment, Jenny has no patience for him. They were best friends as kids and really meant something to each other, then reconnected and dated as adults but, by then, he was well on his way to becoming a world-class playboy and totally disappointed her. He nearly ruined her faith in men. When they are reunited at the house [for the wedding rehearsal] there are definitely sparks flying but not necessarily the good kind.

You and Matthew have great chemistry on screen, did you know each other before starting this or was it just luck?:
I think it’s luck; we spent a lot of time with Mark [Waters, the director] going over scenes and trying to make them more organic. Just being together, you start to build a real relationship, which was necessary for this because these characters had been the most important people in each other’s lives for a lot of their lives.

Did you have an opportunity to work with the young actress who played Jenny as a child?:
The younger version of Jenny, the main teenage girl, had actually played the younger version of me in 13 Going on 30. Her name is Krista B Allen. I suggested her for the role, saying, ‘I know somebody who is a great young me.’ And I’ve kind of perfected being the older version of her. She’s a really sweet young actress.

In several scenes Matthew is invisibly observing them, was it hard to ignore him?:
Matthew and I were just talking about that. I liked it, I felt it informed the scenes to perform them for him in a weird way. Just having his character witness what’s happening gave them a little bit more depth. And I had no problem ignoring him [she laughs].

Do you feel this story is designed more for women, that they can learn maybe not to be drawn to an insincere playboy?:
No, that’s the women’s problem. What does [their behavior] say about them? For men, you have to risk love and commitment, otherwise you’re going to end up alone and sad in old age, and the beautiful woman is going to go off and marry someone else.

Written by Judy Sloane. Back to top

Visit the official Ghosts of Girlfriends Past site
Images above © Warner Brothers
Feature © 2009 Visual Imagination Limited.
Not for reproduction.

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